Posts Tagged "Week 24"

Sooo, we all know the rapper Rick Ross. About a 150 pounds overweight, perpetually high and has a penchant for performing with his shirt off (As if anyone wants to see that)

Recently he has come under fire for a set of lyrics he penned on a song called “U.O.E.N.O”. The lyrics are as follows:

“Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it /

I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it,”

I for one think that these lyrics are disgusting not just because they speak of a very common situation but also because they make light of the fact that there really are guys who slip things in girls drinks just so they can have their way with her. Ross apologized for the lyrics and explained that he is in no way condoning rape. Then what exactly do these lyrics mean? They weren’t written for no reason and its a classic cop out to say that its all a misunderstanding.

Men like Ross need to be held accountable for their actions. Even joking about rape can be harmful and what is called a “trigger. Just imagine what it feels like for a woman who has been roofied to listen to lyrics like these. And this isn’t the first instance where a song makes light of a rape situation. Yesterday in the Hub I picked up an “”Only do it with consent” T-shirt and I answered questions concerning rape and rape culture.

This Rick Ross controversy in conjunction with Sexual Violence Awareness Week has made me think a lot about how our society treats rape and rape victims and how discouraging it is that lyrics or comment like Ross’s are seen as harmless or OK. Hopefully sometime in the near future our society can reach a consensus that any frivolous mention of rape is not a joke nor is it something to ever laugh at.

So for my advocacy project I’m focusing on why teens have little interest in the news and what can be done to solve this problem. I want to focus on advocating for a new curriculum in schools in order for kids to be given the foundation to have an interest in the current world even years after they graduate. One of my ideas includes a poster where I can showcase some statistics and then maybe tell people what they can do to help. This is what I’m having trouble with . It’s easy to say that I want to make a change but its harder to go about that change. Here are some ideas that I have for the “What now” part of my project:

Have people sign a petition concerning the implementation of a current events based curriculum

Tell people to call/ write to their state representative and demand a change

Give out pamphlets

I was also considering making one poster for the advocacy fair where there will be honors kids and another poster or flyer for Findlay commons in East where I live. That way I am also reaching out to two slightly different groups of people.